James eeilly



(No Model.)

J. REILLY.

SAFETY HATGH FOR RAILWAY CARS. 1 No. 249,796. Patented Nov. 22,1881.

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therein STATES JAMES REILLY,

P TENT OFFICE.

or BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO THOMAS SLOAN, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

SAFETY-HATCH FO R RAI LWAY-CA RS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 249,796, dated November 22, 1881.

Application filed October 14, 1881.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JAMES RE1LLY,a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safety-Hatches for Railway-Oar Bodies, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part thereof.

It is necessary for a safety-hatch that it be removable without manipulation in the event of a railway disaster, and it is also necessary, when attached to express'or other treasurebearing cars, that it be securely held in place, when the car is in its proper position on the track, to prevent the operations of robbers through it.

My invention consists in applying an automatic locking-bar to a safety-hatch, which will secure the hatch in place while the car is in an upright position and automatically unlock when the car is turned on its side, permitting the hatch to fall from its place by its own gravity, thus leaving the hatchway clear for the egress of the occupants of the car.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical section of a hatch and frame with my locking-bar attached 011 the line 1 2, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side view of a portion thereof, showing the end of the bar in place when locked; and Fig. 4, the locking-bar.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in all the several figures.

A represents a frame or seat to be fixed in the opening in the car, on which the hatch or cover rests. The frame A is made in the form of a metallic hoop or band, a, of the diameter required to fit the opening in the car, provided with an annular flange, a on its outer surface, and near the center thereof, through which, by means of screws or bolts, the frame is secured in said opening. The hoop a has in opposite sides, immediately below the flange a slots b, of sufficient length to permit the locking-bar G to turn on its axis to pass out in either direction in the process of unlocking. top of the slots 1) are out semicircular recesses L in which the locking-bar G is held while in In the (No model.)

place. Studs 0 are inserted in the hoop a, on its opposite sides, at line 1 2, Fig. 2, projecting inward to fit the groovesc in flange d, by which the hatch is guided to its proper place on the seat or frame and retained there. It is obvious that the positions of the grooves and studs can be reversed and the effect rem aim the same.

D is the hatch or cover, and is represented in the drawings as a bezel for the reception of a glass; but it may be made of a disk of metal 6'0 or other material. The hatch or cover D is 7 provided with an annular flange, d, which fits the inner surface of the hoop a. The flange d has perpendicular grooves 0 on its opposite sides, at the line 1 2, Fig. 2, to receive studs 0 when the cover is in place, as above described. On the inner surface of the flange d, on opposite sides, at the line 1 2, Fig. 2, are substantial shoulders E, projecting inward, to support, by means of a strong screw-stud, F, the locking-bars G. The locking-bars G are constructed in the form of levers, the screwstud F forming the fulcrum thereof, and securing them to the shoulders E. An oblong slot, g, through the bars G, near the small end, admits the screw-stud F loosely. The long arm of the lever is enlarged, and by its weight, acting on the short arm through the stud-fulcrum F, the automatic action is obtained.

When the hatch is in a horizontal position and the locking-bars in place the large head of the screw-stud F forms a fulcrum, by means of which the weight of the long arms of the locking-bars G hold the short arms securely fixed'in the recesses If. When the hatch is projected from a horizontal position the levers cease to exert force in the direction of the recesses, and the short arms are released there from, and are carried by the gravity of the long arms free and clear from the slots, thus freeing the hatch or cover, which will then fall by its own weight.

I do not confine myself to the particular construction in all its details of a safety hatch and seat as hereinbefore described.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a safety-hatch and frame for railway-cars,of the cover D, provided frame for railway-cars, of the hoop having 10 with grooi'es c and hoop having studs 0 subgrooves c and the studs 0, the automatic lockstantially as shown and described. ing-bar G, the screw-stud F, slots b, and re- 2. The combination, in a safety-hatch and oesses bisnbstantially as shown and described frame for railwa- -cars of the automatic locking'bars G, the crew stud F, and hoop hm- JAMES REILLY ing slots 1) and recesses b substantially as Witnesses: shown and described. GEO. V. VALLACE,

3. The combination, in a safety-hatch and I JOHN P. ADAMS. 

